Banding Together

Andrew Carter spent most of 2016 in his basement, making music he never thought anybody else would hear. At the time, he was playing guitar for alternative rock band The Mad Extras, and he wanted to explore his own sound without the pressure of an audience.

In August 2017, Richmond’s EggHunt Records released the finished album, “And How!” In the meantime, what began as an introspective endeavor blossomed into a nationally touring band called Minor Poet.

“When I was making the record, it wasn’t meant to be a product,” Carter says. “I would come home from work and just go down and record. A lot of times, I didn’t even have songs. I was just making it up as I went.” Carter played all the instruments and sang all the harmonies on the album, but before it could hit shelves, he had to assemble a band to play the music for live audiences. He brought in drummer Jeremy Morris from the Mad Extras and picked up bassist Noma Illmensee, who had experience booking tours. Carter sang and played guitar, but he needed a keyboard player to complete the outfit, and he turned to his former roommate Micah Head.

“He had never played keyboard before — he had only ever played flute, in high school,” Carter says. “Turns out he’s something of a musical prodigy. None of them had ever sung in a live band, either. ... We just kind of said, ‘Well, let’s do it. ’ ”

In August 2018, Erica Lashley — known by her stage name Missangelbird — took over lead guitar duties. “I had written too many guitar parts on the next record, and we needed another guitarist,” Carter says. “Erica was our first choice, and she fit the band perfectly.”

Now, fans of Minor Poet’s first album can look forward to a follow-up EP this spring. The band is sitting on new material that was recorded in May 2018. Besides the addition of a flute and horn section, Carter hints that changes in his songwriting are coming on the new record.

On the first record, philosophy and literature played a role in shaping the lyrics, which casually reference Renaissance artwork, David Foster Wallace and Franz Kafka, says Carter, who majored in English at the College of William & Mary. The next one contains more religious references, he adds.

“When you make art, usually you have to think about your audience,” he says. “I never did that. I was my only audience. Now I can no longer exist in that space.”

What’s the best decision you made?

“There was some pressure to change the record to make it sound more commercial, perhaps by re-recording in a big studio, and I decided against it. I wanted it to feel like it was still my product that I made in the basement.”

What’s something you’d do differently?

“In retrospect, I would have exhibited a little bit more patience [in getting the album out]. … We could have spent more time building our audience, playing locally, growing as a band.”